From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlay a hand/finger on somebodylay a hand/finger on somebody[usually in negatives] to touch someone with the intention of hurting them I swear I didn’t lay a finger on him. If you lay one hand on me, I’ll scream. → lay
Examples from the Corpus
lay a hand/finger on somebody• He wouldn't dare lay a finger on any of us.• The odds are that the young man would not have laid a finger on her, but what if ...?• If she laid a hand on him, what could he do besides run for it?• I lay a hand on his chest and felt him breathe, mile after mile through the Kentucky night.• I laid a hand on his hair.• Some one laid a hand on me.• Stuyvesant responded by laying hands on To bias Feake, who delivered the document, arresting and eventually banishing him. 